FULL DISCLOSURE

Fans of courtroom drama will find much to relish in this first audiobook from the former chief justice of Canada. The Vancouver setting is fresh, and feisty young lawyer Jilly Truitt has an interesting backstory, including abusive foster homes and a mystery about her parenthood. The plot is full of dirty tricks and secrets, some a little too easy to see coming, but well-leavened with genuine surprises. Narrator Joy Osmanski struggles here at times. Some commonplace pronunciations ("desultory," "decorous") go wrong repeatedly, the accents of Jilly's Liverpudlian assistant and Hildegard the German villainess wander all over Europe, and the victim's beautiful young Italian housekeeper speaks pure spaghetti commercial. Still, Osmanski does many things well, and McLachlin has made a great start. B.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2018]